


Claw and Paw

by desikauwa



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-17 09:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13074324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desikauwa/pseuds/desikauwa
Summary: AU where Kagami and Takao were friends before Kagami moved to the US and managed to stay in touch but don't actually remember enough to recognize the other immediately. (It's the eyebrows that gives Kagami away.)





	1. Wait...YOU PLAY FOR SHUTOKU?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bunidesu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunidesu/gifts).



> I really like both of these characters and I want them to be friends.

Taiga couldn't remember how long he'd known Kazu but he did know it that they had been friends from before Taiga had moved to Los Angeles. He also knew that they now lived close to each other and both played basketball.

Other than that Taiga was pretty clueless about things. He couldn't remember what school Kazu was going to other than that Kazu was a regular player and the shooting guard on his team both annoyed and amused Kazu.

Taiga should have realized the moment he had actually met Kazu again but he had been so focused on first an annoying shooting guard and then the game he played against the annoying shooting guard's team.

It wasn't until after he had gotten home after everything that he saw a text message from Kazu.

 **Kazu:** Hey you go to Seirin right?

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** Yep. Why? What's up?

 **Kazu:** ☚(ﾟヮﾟ☚) we played against each other today. Totally didn't recognize you at first

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** Wait…

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** YOU PLAY FOR SHUTOKU??

 **Kazu:** w o w Tai-Chan. Did you forget what school I go to?

 **Kazu:** (;｀O´)o

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** Not intentionally okay! I'm just shit with names

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** Hell I don't remember what your actual first name is

 **Kazu:** It's okay Tai-Chan. I don't remember what you name is either! ( ｰ̀εｰ́ )

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** Kazu…

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** Btw, how did you recognize me?

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** And what is your full name?

 **Kazu:** So many questions and so little time ( ﾟｰﾟ)

 **Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ):** Are you going to answer them or not?

 **Kazu:** Yeesh no need to flip the table grumpy cat. (ノ-_-)ノ・・・~~┻━┻

 **Kazu:** In the order that you asked them 1) it was the eyebrows and 2) it's Takao Kazunari

Taiga called Kazu as soon as Kazu answered his questions.

"Why didn't you tell me Kazu?"

Kazu laughed lightly. "Hello to you too Tai-Chan. It's so good to hear your voice after your team left mine in bitter defeat."

Taiga furrowed his brow. "If you didn't want to talk to me, why did you send that text message? And you still haven't answered my first question."

Kazu sighed. "Why is it that you're observant at the most annoying moments?"

Taiga opened his mouth to protest but Kazu continued.

"I didn't tell you because it wouldn't change what either of us did in the match. And you're right. I did send you a text message because I wanted to talk."

Taiga frowned. "I guess you're right about the match. I'm definitely not going to apologize for my team winning."

Taiga could practically feel Kazu's smile. "That's what makes you so great Tai-Chan. You always know how to use your bluntness to somehow make the other person feel better."

Taiga was about to agree when he realized what Kazu had just said. "You make sound insensitive."

"You are insensitive because your head is filled with basketball."

"Well your head is filled with basketball too!"

Kazu started laughing and Taiga joined him.

Their conversation continued late into the night after that.


	2. I Can't Believe You Did That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seirin learns a bit about the mysterious Kazu mostly because of Riko's plotting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow I managed to update really quickly, please don't count on this happening again because it probably won't

Tetsuya wasn't one to read other people's messages but ever since the match with Shutoku, Kagami-kun had been getting more texts than usual and could occasionally be found laughing at something he read.

Now Tetsuya wasn't a nosy person but the same could not be said for most of their team. Especially their coach.

It was because of Coach Aida that Tetsuya found himself with the rest of the team around him as Coach Aida explained exactly what she wanted him to do.

"Now as you all know. Kagami doesn't have a lot of friends so the fact that he's getting messages from someone else during our practices means that he's made a new friend. We're going to find out who that is by having Kuroko read his messages."

Mitobe looked uncomfortable and Koganei made sure to explain why.

"Isn't this an invasion of privacy? We could just ask Kagami you know."

Coach Aida laughed. "Don't worry we won't hack into his phone. We'll just wait until a break and when Kagami gets on his phone, we'll have Kuroko read a few messages over his shoulder and ask Kagami about it."

Captain Hyuuga sighed in resignation. "At least know Kagami, he'll be loud enough for all of us to hear and Riko's curiosity will be sated."

Tetsuya was about to protest but Coach Aida had an expression on her face that made him think that it would be safer to just agree to what she wanted.

This was how Tetsuya found himself looking over Kagami-kun's shoulder as he texted someone who's contact name was Kazu.

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** I can't believe you did that

** Kazu: ** Ikr! The look on his face when it landed on top of him was priceless ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** Knowing what I know of him now, I'm amazed he didn't kill you then and there

** Kazu:  ** Nah he loves me too much to actually kill me in front of witnesses （￣へ￣）

Tetsuya decided to let Kagami-kun know that he was reading over his shoulder.

"Who's Kazu and who won't kill them in front of witnesses?"

Kagami-kun jumped. "Holy shit Kuroko. You need to let me know when you're by me like that. Give me a heart attack why don't you."

Tetsuya blinked. "That doesn't answer my questions Kagami-kun."

Kagami-kun stared at Tetsuya for a moment before shaking his head in frustration. "Kazu is an old friend of mine from before I moved to LA."

Coach Aida decided to enter the conversation at that moment. "You had friends before you moved?"

Kagami-kun looked offended. "I'll have you know that I had a decent amount of friends when I moved. Kazu's the only one I stayed in touch with through the years though. It helped that we both started playing basketball and could talk about it."

Tetsuya realized that Kagami-kun had never answered his question about who wanted to murder this Kazu. He didn't know how to feel about this childhood friend of Kagami-kun that also played basketball. 

There were plenty of stories where childhood friends fell in love with each other. A part of Tetsuya wondered if that would happen to Kagami-kun while another part hoped it wouldn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're wondering if I made Kuroko jealous of Kazu or if I'm hinting at KagaKuro, the answer is yes. I ship it but the focus of this story is still the kagataka friendship tho there will be background ships. also in the next chapter, shuutoku gets it's turn in the spotlight to be suspicious of takao's new texting buddy


	3. Ew Narcissism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuutoku learns a bit about Tai-chan and Midorima makes an incorrect assumption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well i'm being surprisingly productive and idk how long this will last but i'll take it

Now Shintarou didn't usually pay attention to what Takao was doing but even he noticed when he was getting his lucky item of the day (a pair of animal ears headband) that Takao go himself a headband with tiger ears attached.

"Takao what are you doing? If you've started following Oha-Asa you're getting the wrong item for your sign."

Takao started laughing. "Oh Shin-chan you're hilarious. If you must know I'm getting this for a beloved friend. We'll be having a sleepover soon and I want to pull a prank."

Shintarou made a disgruntled sound and then proceeded to ignore Takao's antics like usual.

That should have been the end of it but Shintarou wasn't that lucky. Let the record know that he blamed Miyaji-senpai.

"Someone get me a goddamn pineapple. Midorima has gone and infected Takao with his weirdness."

The team was either staring at the animal headband in Takao's hand or at Shintarou in disbelief.

Takao didn't help because he just kept laughing.

Shintarou needed to clear up the issue immediately. "According to Takao, the headband is for a prank he plans to pull on a friend at a sleepover they'll be happening."

Takao was wiping away tears as he agreed. "Yeah what Shin-chan said. Tai-chan and I are having a sleepover at some point after the Seirin - Touou match."

At that Takao took out a phone. "Actually do you guys mind if I text Tai-chan real quick to confirm our plans real quick."

Miyaji-senpai needed to be held back by Kimura-senpai to keep him from hurting Takao. While that was happening Captain Ootsubo asked, "Um who exactly is this Tai-chan?"

"Hmm. Oh Tai-chan is my childhood friend. We've been in touch for a while but we haven't had a chance to properly catch up. Tai-chan was living in America for a while after all."

Takao was being a bit vague and it was possibly on purpose but Shintarou most definitely did not care enough to actually call him out on it.

Suddenly Takao yelled. "What the fuck?"

Shintarou was surprised to see Takao glaring at his phone and Shintarou would deny ever feeling intimidated by the point guard when the glare was directed at Shintarou.

"You better be glad that you don't go and insult people unncessarily. If you did, I would have found a way to make your life miserable."

A hush fell over the gym. Never before had Takao ever said anything like that to their resident Miracle and they weren't sure what to do.

Shintarou pushed up his glasses to hide his discomfort. "I am unsure what brought this on but I assure you that it is a waste of my time to insult others."

Takao just held out his phone. "Here read this conversation and know that I'll be watching to make sure you act nothing like the douchebag mentioned here."

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** Hey so you know about my partner right?

** Kazu: ** ...in bed? ೭੧(❛〜❛✿)੭೨

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** Really Kazu?

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** Can you not joke right now?

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** What just happened might affect my team

** Kazu: ** Shit Tai-Chan this sounds serious. What happened?

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** The ex showed up

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** Challenged me knowing I was injured

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** And then told me I wasn't good enough

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** I wanted to fight them so much in that moment

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** The ex just showed up to insult me

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** I'll tell my partner but I really hope this doesn't affect our teamwork

** Kazu: ** It won't. And if it does, I'll punch the ex for you

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** The ex is a narcissist too btw

** Kazu: ** Ew narcissism

Shintarou handed the phone back to Takao. "If you do decide to punch this person, don't get caught. Though are you certain that it is wise to interfere in other people's relationships."

Takao rolled his eyes. "Tai-chan is worth any of the pain that might occur."

Shintarou wondered what it was like to be so in love with someone that you'd sabotage your chances with them so that their relationship would succeed like Takao seemed to be doing with this Tai-chan of his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just letting you know, Midorima's assumption about Takao's feelings is going to cause problems especially since Takao is developing feelings for someone else who's too dense to figure it out. poor Tai-chan is going to have to deal with a lot of complaining in the future


	4. Did You Have A Date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a sleepover is to be had

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops i did warn you guys that it might be a while between updates anyways here's takao and kagami actually interacting in person

Kazunari had big plans. Plans that would most probably end with Tai-chan going into practice with the tiger ear headband on.

First things first however was getting himself to Tai-chan's apartment without getting too lost.

Now normally this wouldn't be an issue because Kazunari was great with directions but he'd forgotten one tiny detail. Getting Tai-chan's address.

It was time for Kazunari to admit defeat and ask Tai-chan to pick him up from the Maji Burger closest to Seirin.

** Kazu:  ** Tai-chan let's get milkshakes at the Maji Burger near your school (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧ 

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** I thought I was going to make us dinner tonight

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** I even cancelled on Kuroko

** Kazu: ** Did you have a date? (´▽`ʃƪ)♡

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** Nah. It's just that Kuroko and I always end up at Maji Burger after practice and I always eat a bit there before coming home to make dinner

** Kazu: ** Oooh I see how it is ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°). It's technically not a date because you haven't actually asked him out.

** Tai-Chan (ΦωΦ): ** ...yeah you know what, let's just meet outside of Maji Burger and then we'll head back to my place

Kazunari was amused. He succeeding in getting Tai-chan to pick him up without admitting that he was lost.

There was only thing Kazunari regretted. He wouldn't get to see how Tai-chan interacted with Kuroko outside of games.

Letting out a yawn, Kazunari settled in to wait. Thankfully Tai-chan was close enough that it was a short wait.

Tai-chan grinned seeing Kazunari. "Hey Kazu. It's good to see you again."

Kazunari laughed. "Yeah it's good to see you too Tai-chan. Sorry about making you cancel your date with Kuroko."

Tai-chan rolled his eyes. "I already told you that it wasn't a date. Anyways it's probably better that I won't be meeting up with Kuroko tonight."

Kazunari narrowed his eyes. "What happened? Does this have something to do with your lose to Touou?"

Tai-chan avoided looking at Kazunari. "Oh look we're here. Let me show you the guest room and you can put your stuff away while I get started on dinner."

Kazunari was aware that he had all night to get answers out of Tai-chan so instead he took in the apartment. It was fairly sparse and Kazunari couldn't help the flash of anger he felt about how Tai-chan had been left in Japan on his own.

Tai-chan ducked back in. "Oh yeah I almost forgot to ask you but how is your plan to seduce Midorima going?"

Kazunari picked up the first thing he could and threw it at Tai-chan.

Tai-chan dodged and Kazunari could hear Tai-chan's laughter as he escaped.

Kazunari grinned. Tonight was going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i guess this chapter means i should add the midotaka and kagakuro tags now. hope you guys enjoyed this and i'll try to have the next chapter out soon. a small hint about the aftermath of this sleepover. takao already mentioned his plans multiple times

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://desikauwa.co.vu/)


End file.
